So Windows 8 is now officially out. It has two parts: the old-style Windows 7 Desktop and the new Metro interface (although Microsoft has officially dropped the name). Metro, which David Pogue refers to as “Tileworld,” is designed for touch screens, whereas the traditional desktop is designed for business use, productivity, etc. By all accounts, the combination of the two is what Woody Leonhard terms a “muddled mess.”
The “feature” (or lack thereof) is the total absence of a start menu on the Metro/Tileworld side. Naturally, third party applications have sprouted (and no doubt there will be more to come) to remedy this deficiency. Stardock’s Start 8 is one of the first.
Two of the analysts I always pay attention to have written devastating reviews. David Pogue, in the New York Times of 25 October notes:
“Windows 8’s desktop is basically the well-regarded Windows 7 with a few choice enhancements, like faster start-up, a Lock screen that displays a clock and notifications, and more control over multiple-monitor arrangements.”
But by adding Tileworld, Pogue says,
“...two worlds means insane, productivity-killing schizophrenia. The Windows 8 learning cure resembles Mount Everest.”
Last August, Woody Leonard released an article entitled “Windows 8. Yes, It’s That Bad.”
This week he published a followup called “Forget Windows 8. Give Us Windows 7.8"
Leonhard argues that Microsoft should release “Windows 7.8" for “the billion or so of us” that are desktop users.
This past spring I upgraded all my old PCs and software to Windows 7 so that I would be in a good position to skip Windows 8. That still seems to me like a good move.
The “feature” (or lack thereof) is the total absence of a start menu on the Metro/Tileworld side. Naturally, third party applications have sprouted (and no doubt there will be more to come) to remedy this deficiency. Stardock’s Start 8 is one of the first.
Two of the analysts I always pay attention to have written devastating reviews. David Pogue, in the New York Times of 25 October notes:
“Windows 8’s desktop is basically the well-regarded Windows 7 with a few choice enhancements, like faster start-up, a Lock screen that displays a clock and notifications, and more control over multiple-monitor arrangements.”
But by adding Tileworld, Pogue says,
“...two worlds means insane, productivity-killing schizophrenia. The Windows 8 learning cure resembles Mount Everest.”
Last August, Woody Leonard released an article entitled “Windows 8. Yes, It’s That Bad.”
This week he published a followup called “Forget Windows 8. Give Us Windows 7.8"
Leonhard argues that Microsoft should release “Windows 7.8" for “the billion or so of us” that are desktop users.
This past spring I upgraded all my old PCs and software to Windows 7 so that I would be in a good position to skip Windows 8. That still seems to me like a good move.